Northern Lights JV has awarded a second LCO2 carrier to a consortium comprising Japan’s K Line and Malaysia’s MISC.
The long-term time charter covers a newly built 12,000 cubic metre LCO2 vessel that will be constructed by Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. The award follows Northern Lights’ January announcement that it had secured time charter agreements for four additional CO2 carriers as part of a planned fleet expansion.
The vessel will be co-owned through the existing K Line-MISC joint venture and is intended to transport captured and liquefied CO2 from industrial sites in Europe to Northern Lights’ storage facilities offshore Norway.
Northern Lights, a joint venture between Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies, provides CO2 transport and storage services for industrial emitters. The project began injecting CO2 for permanent storage in 2025. Captured CO2 is shipped to an onshore receiving terminal in western Norway before being transported by pipeline to a reservoir approximately 2,600 metres beneath the seabed.
The latest award is the second vessel contracted to the K Line-MISC consortium. According to MISC, both vessels are expected to feature dual-fuel LNG propulsion.
The newbuild will join Northern Lights’ fleet of dedicated CO2 carriers. Since 2024, the company has taken delivery of three 7,500 cubic metre vessels, Northern Pioneer, Northern Pathfinder and Northern Phoenix, while a fourth vessel was christened in May 2026.
The additional shipping capacity is intended to support Northern Lights’ planned expansion and allow the project to serve additional customers across Europe.
Zahid Osman, President and Group CEO of MISC, said: ‘Securing this second vessel award reinforces our confidence in the long-term potential of the LCO2 shipping segment and marks another step forward in expanding MISC’s portfolio of future-focused maritime solutions.’
Northern Lights has signed commercial agreements with Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik, Hafslund Celsio’s waste-to-energy plant in Oslo, Yara in the Netherlands, Ørsted in Denmark and Stockholm Exergi in Sweden.
